The Stanford Anti-Climax
Thu, Aug 31, '06
So, after all the excitement of the inaugural Stanford 20-20 tournament over the last two months, the announcement of the cancellation of the grand US$5 million winner-take-all SuperStars clash against South Africa seems to have brought the entire proceedings to an anti-climax.
It is an extremely sad ending, at least for this year, to an initiative that has rejuvenated cricket throughout the Caribbean, brought out fans in amazing turnouts, and displayed young talent that would not have otherwise been seen.
Whether or not R. Allen Stanford decides to continue the tournament another year is beside the point. The investment he injected into regional cricket has indeed been staggering, and it is no doubt one which many cricket-playing countries would have loved to have for themselves.
Some have questioned Stanford?s motives for embarking on the initiative. But never mind what he may eventually make out of the investment, the fact is the 19 participating territories would not have otherwise benefited from the resources they have been given through his programme.
Stanford may very well be opening up investment opportunities for his group of companies, but he has certainly brought to the fore the need to invest in cricket??which is in reality the only game that has ever united the region, and in which the Caribbean has ever dominated the rest of the world for any significant period of time.
How ironic it is that the biggest ever one-time investment in West Indies cricket was made by someone who never grew up playing the game, and more significantly, someone who was not even born in the Caribbean.
Indeed, the conflict between the West Indies Cricket Board and the Stanford organizers is one which many cricket analysts in the region may have predicted long before the recent 20-20 tournament concluded.
From the inception, when the 20-20 tournament was announced, the WICB had taken a rather antagonistic stance, primarily because Stanford, the originator and financier of the initiative, decided to execute the entire plan independent of it, but rather with the assistance of the 14 West Indies legends he appointed.
The board obviously felt ignored and many of its officials may have ended up licking their wounds with the feeling of being brushed aside, and licking their tongues at the missed opportunity of handling Stanford funds.
Stanford?s decision was obviously made as a consequence of the WICB's history of ineptitude and mismanagement of its finances and cricket as a whole in the region. But as the individual territories that were invited to participate began to endorse the Stanford programme, the WICB was left with no choice but to sanction the tournament, albeit, belatedly and perhaps reluctantly.
Eventually, the WICB arrived at an agreement with Stanford that the 20/20 tournament will be staged under the auspices of the regional board and that it will be included on its annual calendar of activities.
Stanford also hinted that he will finance a high performance training programme to develop West Indies cricket for one year in the first instance, with the option to extend such sponsorship over a four-year period.
WICB President Ken Gordon reported recently that Stanford has since pulled out his sponsorship, but he stopped short of giving reasons why the negotiations broke down. Was it because the reasons were not so favourable for the board? Did Stanford insist on managing his own funds as he did for the 20-20 tournament?
The fact that Stanford and his team of former West Indian cricketers retained autonomy for all aspects of running and organizing the tournament is a clear indication that the pre-eminently successful businessman and entrepreneur, while not wanting to totally ignore the WICB, was not going to allow the regional board to play any role in managing his funds.
Without putting Stanford on a pedestal, given the history of mismanagement and miscommunication of the WICB, it is not so difficult to put into perspective what (or who) may have gone wrong regarding the date for the superstars clash against South Africa.
It may yet be another example of the true colours of the WICB shining bright again. For, as always, where the WICB is present, controversy, mismanagement and miscommunication abound.
The announcement that the board has just appointed a corporate services manager, whose responsibility includes the functions of corporate secretary and corporate communications, could not have come at a better time.
Only time will tell if better days are yet ahead.